I recently gave a presentation to the Binger Film Lab in Amsterdam. It is European centric according to the audience to whom I was presenting, but creators from anywhere will understand it.

Most of my sessions start with some form of this one because I think it is imperative that creators understand WHY using social tools is beneficial to them for more than just “self promotion.” In fact, self promotion is really NOT the best use of these tools. While the title says paradigm shift, this is also about a mindset shift that creators must embrace. The internet is based on connection, abundance, generosity and earning trust. It isn’t based on greed, scarcity and secrecy. Creators aren’t the only ones who have to change their approach when using these tools. I see very few labs, schools or other workshops teaching from this fundamental principle and that is why I think it is important to cover before launching into marketing strategy, what tools are available and how to conduct audience outreach. The mind and heart have to be in the right place first.

All creators (writers, filmmakers, musicians) I know do not like the idea of self promotion and avoid using social channels, or use them incorrectly, to connect directly with an audience believing that they will turn into raving a**holes constantly talking about themselves. Believe me, no one wants that! But the audience is growing used to having direct contact with artists and, in order to take advantage of new developments in funding (crowdfunding) and distribution, an artist MUST have a network of supporters for their work. But no one wants to connect with someone who is just taking all the time or sees their efforts as short term or views the audience as disposable.

The REAL power of the internet and social media is its ability to connect like minded people. Reaching an audience used to entail going through centralized and guarded entities (mass media), but now the tools are available to everyone. Using them just to blast messages about yourself means you have misunderstood its true power and, frankly, you come off as rude and out of touch.

In addition to seeing the slides here, you can see my notes for each slide on the Slideshare site. So far, this presentation has reached over 2800 people and I’m pretty happy about that. If you have questions or comments, please leave them below or on the Slideshare site.